ASA Ruling on The Pack Pet Ltd

The Pack is a supplier of vegan dog food. On June 12, 2022, a post was seen on the Pack’s Facebook page which featured a video that started with several images of bowls filled with vegetables. The bowls were then shown filled with dog food. The video then showed dogs eating various The Pack products. On-screen text at the end of the video stated, “THE PACK. JOIN THE PACK FOR A HEALTHIER DOG & PLANET”. A caption accompanying the video stated “Better for The Planet”. A complaint was made to the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) challenging whether these claims were misleading and could be substantiated. By a ruling of November 2, 2022, the ASA upheld that complaint. The CAP Code required that the basis of environmental claims must be clear. The Code also stated that claims must be based on the full life cycle of the advertised product, unless the ad stated otherwise. The claims in the Pack’s ad were broad and non-specific. One possible interpretation was that the products shown were less detrimental to the environment compared to their conventional meat-based equivalents across their life cycles. Because the basis of the claims had not been made clear, and were not based on a full life cycle analysis of the products, the ASA concluded the ad did not comply with the rules of the Code on environmental claims.